Unseen Suffering
by Queen Caira
Summary: Seto has always loved and protected his brother, and Mokuba has always loved and supported his older brother. Their relationship is strong and built upon love, but some brothers' relationships aren't as blessed as theirs. AU! Yaoi! YuGiOh GX characters!
1. Prologue

_I don't own Yu-gi-oh or Yu-gi-oh GX._

**Unseen Suffering**

**Prologue**

"Sir, a young lady has arrived at the front door; she wants to speak with you."

"I told you that I wasn't to be disturbed, did I not? Can't you even follow a simple order?"

"You did, sir, but she insisted I inform you of her name."

"Very well, what is her name then?"

"She told me her name is Astra Mirina."

"She said her name is Astra Mirina? You are absolutely certain?"

"Yes sir, I am."

The butler watched as his employer turned hurriedly to the viewing screen on the wall to the right of his desk, and, using a remote, turned it on. Displayed on the screen was an elegantly decorated sitting room, in which sat a girl in her late teens. She had amber colored hair and bright green eyes; she was dressed in a tight, thigh-length, purple skirt and a white tank top.

"Have her brought here, immediately."

"Right away, sir."

The butler turned and left the room quickly to do as he was bid, glad that he still had his job.

"Miss Mirina, Mr. von Schroeder will see you now. Please follow me."

Astra stood and followed the butler as he led her down the hall and up the stairs. He opened the door and gestured for her to precede him inside, which she did.

As soon as she was inside, a smooth voice, rich with a German accent said, "Astra, it's been a long time."

"It has, hasn't it, Zigfried," she answered, a hint of a German accent coloring her voice.

The two friends embraced each other, but it was as if there was a barrier between them. Zigfried turned to the butler and ordered him to bring tea. Astra watched as the butler hurried off as if demon dogs were pursuing him.

"I see you still have your servants thinking you're about to fire them."

"It makes them much more efficient, I think."

Astra laughed quietly and looked around the office, noticing all of the changes that had occurred. Zigfried gestured for her to take a seat on the couch, and took a seat in the chair next to it.

"So, how have you been Zigfried, truly?"

"Fine," was the curt answer she received.

Astra looked toward her friend with a confused, and almost desperate, expression on her face.

"Fine, is that all you have to say to me? We haven't spoken to one another in almost three years. Surely you have more to tell me than that?"

Zigfried suddenly looked into her eyes; the phony, gracious smile was gone, to be replaced with a somber expression. His brilliant blue-green eyes shone with sadness and an old hurt.

"Maybe if you hadn't decided that our relationship was expendable and stopped speaking to me you would know what's been going on in my life. It isn't my fault that you chose to leave me and what we had behind."

Astra winced at the expression in his eyes; Zigfried rarely showed his true emotions, and it horrified her to know that she had been the one to hurt him this time.

"You're right, of course; I am the one who left, not you. I have no right to demand anything of you or even hope to receive anything."

She stood and seemed ready to leave, but before she did she spoke again.

"I am sorry that I hurt you, Zigfried; it was not a part of my plans, but that was how it happened. I hope you can believe me, if not forgive me. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness and definitely not your friendship."

With that she strode toward the door, intent on leaving before she caused him anymore hurt. Zigfried seldom trusted others or deigned to make friends; she had been privileged with both his trust and his friendship, and then she had taken both and thrown them away. Zigfried jumped up from his seat and seized her arm.

"I do believe you and forgive you as well. I apologize for speaking so harshly before; it is just that you left so suddenly and without any explanation at all. I waited and waited for you to send word, but you never did. I had not expected to ever hear from you again, and then here you are, after I had thought I would never see or hear from you again. I am willing to resume our friendship, though."

He said all of this with a real smile on his face, and Astra turned to him with a bright smile of her own.

"I have missed that smile of yours the most I think; It's never present when you're on TV. Thank you, for this second chance."

As they were sharing a heartfelt hug, there was a knock at the door.

"Sir, I have the tea you requested."

"Then bring it in."

The door opened, and as the servant poured the tea, Astra glanced at Zigfried's desk once more and couldn't believe what she saw there. Next to a picture of Zigfried's younger brother, Leon, was a picture of herself, taken, ironically, the day she had left.

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	2. Partings and Reunions

**Chapter One: Partings and Reunions**

_Four Months Later..._

"Goodbye Astra, I trust you will keep in touch this time."

"I will, Zigfried; I promise."

"Good; come back, and stay anytime you like. You are always welcome here; after all, this is your home as well."

"That's definitely an invitation I won't turn down; I'll come back to visit in a couple months, tops."

"I'll be expecting you then, Astra."

Astra laughed and hugged her best friend goodbye.

"I'm going to miss you so much; I wish I didn't have to leave."

"Then stay, you needn't leave if you don't want to."

"Zigfried…I've already told you; I have to go. I have a job waiting for me and…"

"If it's the job then just stay here; I'll give you a job at Schroeder Corporation. You can have any position you desire."

"I know all of that, Zigfried, but I need to see if I can make it by myself in the world. I got my programmer's license and studied so hard, so I could work as a programmer. It doesn't count if I work for my best friend. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I do understand, but you know you can come to me for help if you need it, right?"

"Of course, I do; now, I've got to go if I'm to catch the ferry to the mainland."

"Where will you go from there?"

"I'll either buy a train or plane ticket to Domino City; a friend that lives there is giving me a job in her store. It's not my dream job, but it's a start and…hey, what's so funny?"

"You don't actually think I'd let you go on the ferry, do you? Of course, you'll take one of my jets straight to Domino City."

Astra's eyes lit up, and she pulled Zigfried into a hug that squeezed the breath out of him.

"Really?! That'd be great, Zigfried!"

"You're very welcome; now which color do you prefer? Any one of them can be fueled and ready at a moment's notice, so it's your choice."

"You know which one's always been my favorite; it hasn't changed."

"Ahh yes, the light blue one, wasn't it?"

Astra nodded excitedly.

"It's waiting for you on the runway."

Zigfried and Astra headed toward the jet runway; when they arrived, they were informed that her luggage was already onboard, and they were only awaiting her.

"I'll see you later, Zigfried; I hope things get better with Leon."

"You needn't worry about us, everything will be fine."

After another round of hugs and kisses, Astra boarded the jet and waved to Zigfried from a window. Zigfried stood watching as the blue jet took off into the sky; he watched until he could no longer see it. 'I wish you luck in your ventures; return here safely.' Then he headed inside for his lunch and some wine.

* * *

As soon as Astra had gotten off the jet, she took her bags, thanked the pilot and steward, and then called her friend. Within an hour she was settled in at her friend, Catherine Walters', apartment having dinner. Catherin Walters, or Cathy, had curly, golden hair that fell to her shoulders and brilliant blue eyes. She wasn't slim but not large either and was twenty years old; she owned a small, computer store in downtown Domino City.

"So, about the job you were…"

"Oh, Astra, you just got here; we can discuss work tomorrow at the office. Tonight, let's just savor the fact that we're together again."

Astra smiled; it had been a long while since she and Cathy had seen each other. In fact, she hadn't seen any of her friends in years; she'd fallen out of touch with everyone she was once close to.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, it's just that I'm so happy to see you again; it's been so long since I've been with any of my friends."

"I've missed you too, and I hope you aren't planning on disappearing again anytime soon."

"Don't worry, Cathy; I'm not."

"That's good to hear."

"Tell me, Cathy, what's been going on since I left? How's your business doing?"

"Not too bad; people always have computers that need fixing or programming, so I can't complain. Oh, but the really interesting news is Kaiba Corp.."

"Oh, really? What news?"

"How can you not know? You were just with the CEO of Shroeder Corp.; you had to have heard from him. Everyone's talking about this new project that's been started. Funny thing is no one knows what it's exactly about, just that a new project has been started."

"Zigfried and I had other things to talk about, and that's funny; details always leak out when something's so big."

"Not this time; all we know is that a bunch of new scientists have been hired, and Kaiba's been keeping security tighter than ever around his headquarters."

"Interesting, very interesting."

"Yeah, but come on; we should go to bed. We've got an early morning tomorrow.

The two girls headed into their separate bedrooms, bidding each other goodnight.

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	3. The Techno Corner

**Chapter Two: The Techno Corner  
**

'It's only the first day, and I'm already bored out of my mind. I'm probably going to be insane by the end of the month.'

Astra looked around the small computer shop for something to do besides counting the roof tiles. She had just started working in Cathy's shop that morning, and already she'd finished all of her work along with the backed-up jobs. She'd had no idea that the jobs would be so simple or that she'd be so bored. It seemed growing up around computers, studying for her license, and all of the extended studying she had done had put her way above simple computer repairs. But it wasn't as if she could tell Cathy about it and not sound ungrateful. 'She's being nice enough as is; giving me this position. Without Cathy I'd have no job at all.' She ignored the niggling little voice that reminded her that if she'd stayed with Zigfried, she would've already had the position of her dreams, not to mention a huge mansion to live in. She imagined herself programming the new holo-systems and running systems checks on Von Schroeder's entire mainframe. 'Not to mention all the new projects I could be working on; I'll bet Zigfried would have let me work on whatever my mind came up with. Oh, what was I thinking?' She was shaken from her daydreams by the door chime that signaled the arrival of a customer.

"Hello, welcome to the Techno Corner. How may I help...?"

Her voice trailed off as she finally saw the boy leaning heavily against the doorframe. He appeared to be in his early teens and had long, bushy, black hair and large, blue-gray eyes. Abruptly, he looked up at her.

"Umm…hi…"

Out of the front window, she could see a group of people running toward the store. The boy looked back at her, and, without another word, dove behind and underneath the counter.

"What are...?!"

Before she even finished her question, the door slammed open, and the group of people burst inside.

"Have you seen a boy about yea high? He's got long, black hair and grayish eyes."

The boy looked up at her with desperation showing in his face and shook his head vehemently.

"No, I haven't seen any little boys all day; the only thing I've seen is computers. Could I interest any of you in one? We've got great deals."

She gestured around them at the many computers and computer components for sale. The men and women looked at one another and left quickly, shutting the door behind them.

"They're gone now; you can come out."

The boy crawled out from under the counter and straightened his clothes before he looked up at her with a smile.

"Thanks for the help; I woulda never got away from them otherwise."

"Mind telling me why they're chasing you in the first place? You know, just as a thank you."

"I guess you deserve that much for hiding me. You see, they wanna know what my older brother's up to, and they figured they'd ask me. My brother told me not to ever go out alone, but I didn't listen; I guess I shoulda."

"Yes, you should have. Your brother's gotta be pretty important for so many reporters to be chasing after you."

He raised his eyebrow at her and gave her a strange look that she couldn't interpret.

"Yeah, nobody will ever leave him alone about anything."

Their conversation was interrupted by the door chime, and once again, Mokuba dove underneath the counter. 'He's got pretty good reflexes for a kid.'

"Good afternoon, ma'am, and welcome to the Techno Corner. May I help you with something?"

She tried to put the proper energy behind her words, but she knew she fell far short. She just couldn't help it. Running a shop wasn't what she was cut out for, nor was it what she wanted to be doing, and it showed.

"I certainly hope you can; my pc's been making funny noises for weeks, and now it won't even turn on. I need you to fix it by this afternoon; I'll be here at precisely six to pick it up."

The woman's haughty and commanding demeanor was pushing Astra over the edge; the only reason she hadn't snapped yet was the fact that there was a child listening to her every word. As it was, she clenched her teeth and nodded, taking down the woman's name and phone number. As soon as the woman was gone, the boy once again came out from under the counter.

"No offence, but you don't seem very good at talking to people."

"Trust me; usually I'm much better. I can make anyone think I like them, but today's been a **really** bad day; all I want to do is go home, take a bath, and then maybe call my best friend and complain about my life to him."

"Umm...ok…do you mind if I hang out around here for awhile? I wanna make sure those reporters are gone for sure."

"Sure, I don't mind. But I gotta get to work on this computer if I wanna have it done by six, especially since I don't even know what's wrong with it yet. Go ahead and make yourself comfortable."

The boy sat down in a chair next to her worktable as she attempted to diagnose the problem. 'Good thing Cathy won't be in today. I'd hate to have to explain this to her.'

* * *

Mokuba watched as the girl began to work on the pc. She hooked the computer up to a diagnostic machine and punched in some general data. A couple of minutes later, a machine across the room spat out a sheet of paper, and just as it did, the phone rang. 

"Would you mind getting that for me?"

"Sure thing."

He scanned it as she answered the phone; it took him less than a minute to figure out the problem. 'Wonder how long it'll take for her to see it.' It had always been interesting, and amusing, to see how long it took for others to solve what were simple problems to him. He handed the sheet to her and sat down to watch. She scanned it for only a couple of minutes before she put it down with a smile. He watched in surprise as she swiftly repaired the computer. He hadn't thought an everyday, computer, repair-person would be able to see it **and **repair it so quickly. 'Now this is definitely interesting.'

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	4. Pleading His Case

**Chapter Three: Pleading His Case **

"Goodbye, have a nice evening."

Astra smiled as she helped to load the last computer into the customer's car. 'Whew! Glad that's the last one. She turned back to the store to lock up, and then slid the keys into her pocket.

"Would you like for me to give you a ride home? Your brother must be pretty worried by now, even if you did give him a call earlier."

"Sure, if you've got the time."

"Not a problem, hop in."

She drove down the street, following his directions. 'Hmm…guess he lives downtown.' They were passing the Kaiba Corp. building when he asked her to pull over.

"But…this is…"

The boy laughed at the expression on her face.

"I guess I forgot to tell you my name. Hi, I'm Mokuba."

He held his hand out to her; she ignored it, continuing to stare at him.

"You mean Mokuba, as in Kaiba? Seto Kaiba's younger brother? I thought you looked familiar, but I had no idea."

"Yeah, that's me; by the way, what's your name?"

"Astra," she said breathlessly.

She still looked slightly shell-shocked.

"Come on; Seto will want to thank you for helping me today."

Mokuba doubted Seto would even want to meet her, let alone thank her, but after watching her work all afternoon, he wanted her on their payroll and maybe even on their newest project. She nodded absently and followed him into the building; he led the way toward the elevators. Along the way, he was greeted by various members of the staff; they gave her strange looks as they entered the elevator, probably wondering who she was and why she was accompanying Mokuba. Mokuba ignored the looks and punched in the button for the fourth floor.

"Why didn't you tell me who you were? Did you think I would call the press?"

"No, of course I didn't; I guess I just forgot?"

Astra stared at him in open-mouthed astonishment, "You forgot?!"

"Forgot what?"

They were both startled by the sudden question; they had been so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn't noticed the elevator stopping and the doors opening.

"Hey, Seto; do you have anything to eat? I'm starved."

"Explain to me what you were doing out when I told you to stay inside the building, and then tell me where you've been because a vague phone call saying you're ok and will be back by six doesn't cut it, Mokuba, and who is she?"

"Well, I got swamped by reporters; just like you said I would, and Astra," he pointed at her before continuing, "gave me a place to hide. Then, she gave me a ride back here after she got off work."

Seto reached into his pocket, pulled out a pad, wrote something down, and ripped it out before handing it to her.

"Go to the counter by the doors downstairs in the lobby; give them this."

He then left the room, effectively dismissing her. Astra looked down at the note in surprise, and a little disgust, and then at Mokuba.

"I didn't help you to get a reward; I helped you because you seemed to need it."

She handed the note to Mokuba and moved to reenter the elevator.

"Wait a second, Astra."

"I really don't think your brother wants to talk to me, Mokuba. It's fine, though; I'll see you around; try and stay out of trouble."

"Just wait five minutes, ok?"

She looked at him in confusion.

"Why? I mean…"

"Please…"

She sighed in defeat and allowed him to pull her into a small waiting room. She sat down in a chair and watched him enter a room at the end of the hall.

* * *

"Seto…about Astra…" 

"Who?"

"Astra, you know the girl who helped me today, the one you just met?"

"I gave her more than any reporter would have; she should be happy enough. If she wants more..."

Mokuba sighed in exasperation; throughout their conversation, his brother hadn't even looked up from his computer screen. Mokuba threw the note down in front of him. 'Well, at least that got his attention.'

"What is this," his brother asked, looking at the piece of paper in confusion.

"She didn't do it for money, and she doesn't want it; I mean, she didn't even know who I was until fifteen minutes ago."

"You spent the afternoon with her, and she didn't even ask you your name? That doesn't show she's a good person, Mokuba; it shows she's unstable."

"She was busy; besides, I didn't ask hers either."

"With what?"

"Huh?"

"You said that she was busy; I want to know, busy with what?"

"Repairing and programming computers, she works in a small computer store called the Techno Corner. That's what I want to talk to you about big brother; I saw her work, a lot of it. She'd be great for Kaiba Corp.."

"Have you lost it, Mokuba? What did this girl give you to eat? She must have drugged you because you're suggesting I hire an untried, average, computer, repair-person? Do you even know if she has a license as a programmer? Has she ever seriously studied computer programming? What we do here is beyond what she'd ever see in a computer store."

"Give her a chance, Seto; you didn't see her this afternoon. She's so fast and meticulous, and she keeps at it until she figures it out. She's not like the others we've ever seen **or** hired. She's got talent, and it's being wasted where she is now. Worse, every second she's there is a second **we** don't have her working for us."

"There is no way that I'm going to…"

"Just give her a try; test her if you want, but just talk to her for one minute."

Seto carefully studied his younger brother's expression.

"You usually couldn't care less who I hire. Why the sudden interest in this one insignificant programmer?"

"Because I know she's good. Like you said, Seto; this isn't normal behavior for me. If I'm doing this, then doesn't that mean I'm serious? Please, Seto, just give her a chance; you can give her any test you want. You'll see, she's great."

"Alright," Seto relented, "I'll test her, but I'm not promising you anything."

Mokuba grinned in delight and hugged his brother tightly. Seto figured he'd give her a test, she'd fail, he'd send her on her way, and everything would go back to normal.

"Thank you so much, Seto."

* * *

"Astra, you don't have any plans for the rest of today, right?" 

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	5. Interview

**Chapter Four: Interview**

"Well, Seto, what do you think?"

"Be silent, Mokuba."

Seto held in his hands the results from the many rigorous tests he had put Astra through. She wasn't the best in terms of knowledge; there were many things, especially the more current breakthroughs, she had never encountered before. But he couldn't deny that she was a fast learner and quick thinker. 'It shouldn't take her long to pick something up, and after that, she'll be able to run with it; she'd just need someone to teach her some things.' He looked up at his brother, setting the file down, and Mokuba grinned at the look in his brother's eyes.

"I'll call her and ask her to come in to talk to you."

Seto nodded as his brother picked up the phone on his desk and dialed a number by heart; he'd memorized it after dialing it so many times the last few days. When someone picked up on the other side, he put it on speaker.

"Techno Corner, this is Cathy speaking. How may I help you?"

"Hi, is Astra there?"

"Yes, she is."

"May I speak to her?"

"Give me a second, and I'll go and get her."

"Thank you."

Mokuba waited on the line for only a moment before someone picked up the phone again.

"Hello, this is Astra speaking."

"Hi, Astra, it's Mokuba."

"Oh, hi, Mokuba. What's up? Don't tell me you've gotten into trouble again."

"No, nothing like that. My big brother just looked over the results from your tests, and he wants you to come in and talk to him."

"You're joking right? Mokuba I only took those tests because you begged me to; I knew there was no way I had enough experience. Why in the world would Seto Kaiba want to talk to me?"

"I'm serious; he really wants to talk to you. He's sitting right here beside me. Tell her, Seto," Mokuba turned to his brother with a pleading look on his face.

Seto sighed, "He's not joking."

"Ok, what time," she still sounded as if she didn't quite believe him.

Mokuba turned to his elder brother, "Is one ok?"

Seto nodded his approval after taking a quick look at his schedule.

"I'll send a car over for you around twelve forty, ok?"

"Yeah, that's fine, but I can get there myself you know. You don't have to..."

"You gave me a ride a couple days ago, so now, I'm returning the favor."

"Ok, if you insist; I'll see you, Mokuba," and almost as an afterthought, "Seto."

* * *

"You seem to be on very good terms with her, seeing as you just met three days ago."

"She's not like other people; she thinks differently, more like us. You'll like her, Seto; I just know you will."

"I highly doubt that. Besides, my liking her, or not, is irrelevant. Even if she is hired, it's highly unlikely I'll be seeing her at all. Now, I've got a meeting in five minutes."

Seto adjusted his tie and picked up his briefcase before he left the office.

* * *

'Now how **am** I going to explain to Cathy why I have to leave early?' "Hey umm.., Cathy?" 

"Yesh, what is it?"

"Would it be alright if I left around twelve thirty today?"

"Why?"

"I've got an appointment at one, and it's kinda important."

"I guess since you did so much yesterday, that it'd be alright if you left early today. But tell me, is it a date? Who is it?"

"What," Astra spluttered in complete shock.

"It isn't a date! I would never leave work early for something like that. Besides, when was the last time you saw me go on a date?!"

"That is exactly my point, Astra. You need to get out there; you're a beautiful, intelligent girl, and yet you insist on…"

"I have no interest in dating, Cathy; my only interest is my career. Now, may we please drop this tedious subject?"

"Alright, alright."

The two young women turned back to their work. One thinking that she would never understand her friend or the way she thought. The other preoccupied with thoughts of Kaiba Corp. and her meeting with Seto Kaiba himself. At exactly twelve forty, a shiny, black sedan pulled up to the curb, the driver's door opened, and a young man dressed in a suit stepped out.

"Excuse me, are you Miss Astra?"

"Yes, I am."

"My name is Milan; Mr. Kaiba sent me to pick you up."

She nodded, and he opened the back door for her; then shut it after her. Milan climbed back into the driver's seat and pulled away from the curb. They made light conversation along the way, and she found him to be intelligent as well as pleasant to converse with. When they reached Kaiba Corp., he helped her out and told her that someone would be awaiting her in the lobby before driving away. 'Well, this is it. Whether this goes well or not, at least, I'll have something interesting to tell Zigfried tonight.' She took a deep breath and proceeded inside, immediately seeing Mokuba waiting for her by the elevators; he waved enthusiastically in greeting. Mokuba pressed the up arrow on the elevator marked private instead of the elevator they had taken the day before, and the door instantly slid open. He gestured for her to enter and followed her in; this elevator had a card reader where there was supposed to have the floor numbers. Mokuba pulled an ID card out of his pocked and swiped it through the card reader.

"Good morning, Mokuba, and **who** is our guest?"

"Just take us to Seto's office, KCAIS."

As he finished speaking, the elevator slid smoothly into action.

"Case?" 

"Well, actually it's KCAIS spelled "K-C-A-I-S"; it stands for Kaiba Corporation Artificially Intelligent System. She's everywhere in this building, and as you can see, she's got her own personality."

"Oh."

In her mind, she was thinking of Zigfriend's own computer network, SAIN.

"Well, anyway, we're here. Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

He opened the door into the office and gestured for her to enter, shutting the door firmly behind her; she sat down in the chair placed in front of Seto's desk and waited for his arrival. Another door on the side of the office abruptly swung inwards, and there stood Seto Kaiba.

"It seems my staff forgot to get your age and last name during your testing, and Mokuba didn't know it either," he said without preamble.

"Oh, I'm seventeen, and my last name is Mirina; you really don't waste any time, do you?"

He ignored her question, instead, opening a file and setting it on his desk in front of him, where he made a notation in it, and then turned his piercing gaze back onto her.

"Mirina, the same twelve year old Astra Mirina that appeared out of nowhere and took second in the European dueling championship almost six years ago? The same one who was the chosen spokesperson of Schroeder Corp. for two years after that, and then just dropped from sight?"

Astra was a little uncomfortable under his intense gaze, but she answered calmly nonetheless; this was not her first interview. Neither was it her first interview with a high ranking official.

"Yes, that's me; at least, that **was** me. That was my last duel; I retired right after that and no longer duel."

They were both silent for a few moments.

"What do you know of Zigfried von Schroeder," Seto abruptly asked.

This question was uttered with such anger and disgust that she was thrown off and didn't answer for a full minute.

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	6. The Truth

**Chapter Five: The Truth**

Astra calmly met Seto Kaiba's turbulent, blue eyes as he towered over her. She took the moment to organize what she wanted to say.

"I could give you an answer you'd like, such as I don't know Mr. von Schroeder at all; we only ever saw each other in the workplace, the meeting rooms. We never became anything more than passing acquaintances, never said more than three words to one another at a time. But that would be a lie, a gross lie; I could, and would, never lie about my feelings for or my relationship with Zigfried. Zigfried von Schroeder is the dearest person to me on this planet. When I disappeared a few years ago, I also disappeared from him, but we've recently reconnected, and our bond is as strong as ever."

As she spoke, she had maintained eye contact with Seto, not once allowing her grey-green eyes to leave his steely blue ones.

"Now, I'm pretty sure this interview is over, so I'm going to go."

She stood serenely, ready to go.

"Mokuba will arrange for a car to take you home."

Astra smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, that won't be necessary, but before I go, I have something to say to you."

"Go ahead."

"I'm glad I came here today and met you because, you see, for a long time, many people have compared my friend, Zigfried, to you. They've said that not only are you equal in intelligence, inventiveness, and even in dueling prowess, but they also say that the way you conduct business is very similar."

Here she stopped for a second, noting the building anger in Seto's entire stance.

"Please, hold your temper; I'm almost finished. It may anger you to be compared to Zigfried, but it angers me as well. Like you, Zigfried is a genius and a prodigy, but as I said before, I'm glad to have met you because **now**, I can truthfully say that you, Seto Kaiba, hold **no **other resemblance beyond that to Zigfried von Schroeder whatsoever."

With that, she turned and headed for the door. Now, normally, being told that he held no resemblance to Zigfried von Schroeder would have put Seto in a good mood, but the way she said it made him think that it was meant as an insult, which angered him, and the fact that someone like Astra **could** anger him, angered him even more.

"What do you mean by that?"

She stopped and seemed to be thinking whether to answer or not. When she turned to face him, he suddenly had the feeling he was facing someone ancient and wise, instead of just the seventeen year old girl in front of him. Her green eyes shown with an emotion unknown to him.

"Do you truly want to know, or are you just asking because you're angry."

"I wouldn't ask if I didn't want to know."

"If I were to tell you exactly what I mean, it would take quite awhile, and I think I've already talked too much today. So, I'll cut it short. Zigfried would never allow a personal opinion or emotion to affect a decision he made concerning his business. You on the other hand allow your personal feelings to dictate the choices you make, and for the life of me, I don't know how you've managed to do so well. I guess intelligence and a lot of luck are enough. I think that's the part you most wanted to know about."

The sound of the door shutting was what finally shook Seto from the trance he had been put in. He sat down heavily in an armchair and realized, with a shock that she had actually stood up to him and stated what she felt without feeling, or at least not betraying, **any** fear towards him whatsoever. Not only that, but this girl had managed to insult him, more than once, and escaped without even one scathing word on his part. He suddenly remembered Mokuba telling him that this girl was different, that she was special; perhaps, he had had a point. Her test results showed that she was a quick study, and now that he knew she was Astra Mirina, he knew that she had a strong background not only with computers but also with dueling and with working with large companies. 'It seems she isn't as low on experience as I initially thought.' With a jolt, he abruptly realized that he was still thinking of hiring her, even after everything she had just said; in fact, what she'd said and done was sealing the deal, rather than sinking it.

"Astra, how was it?"

"I think you'd do better asking your brother, Mokuba; I'm not really in the mood to talk right now. I'm just going to go home."

Mokuba looked both confused and concerned at the same time; he was accustomed to an upbeat Astra, not this distracted and slightly depressed Astra. Nonetheless, he picked up the phone on the desk.

"KCAIS, I need Milan sent to the side entrance..No, I need him now...Good."

"Come on, I'll take you down."

"Thank you, Mokuba, but I'll get home on my own."

"Forget about it; I brought you here, and I'll make sure you get home alright."

Astra nodded silently, and they rode down in the elevator in silence; even KCAIS kept silent. As soon as she spotted Milan and the car, she climbed in and shut the door. As Mokuba turned to reenter the building, the window rolled down, and Astra stuck her head out.

"Hey, I'm sorry I wasn't very good company; I just have a lot on my mind."

"Don't worry about it; I'll call you tomorrow."

Her reply was cut off when the door slid shut in front of him. 'Oh well, I guess Seto can tell him.'

* * *

"How did the interview go, Seto?"

"Didn't she tell you? She compared me to Zigfried von Schroeder and told me that I make bad business decisions."

Mokuba stared at his brother in open wonderment; he was sure his mouth was hanging open, but for some reason, he couldn't quite figure out how to shut it. His shock wasn't just from the fact that Astra had insulted his brother but from the fact that Seto wasn't storming around the office shouting and throwing things. Instead, he was sitting calmly in an armchair looking at something on his laptop.

"Seto, are you feeling alright?"

Seto laughed and looked up to meet his younger brother's concerned eyes.

"I'm feeling fine; I have a question though. You know Astra Mirina's phone number, don't you?"

"Umm…yeah, why do you ask? You aren't planning on finding out her address and sending a hit man, or anything like that, are you?"

"I want her phone number because I need to call her to tell her that she got the job."

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